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Monday, October 1, 2012

Mystery Monday: Man on the Run (Part 1 - The Early Years)

Mystery Monday is a
daily prompt at Geneabloggers that
asks us to share mystery ancestors or mystery records – anything in our family
history research which is currently unsolved. With any luck fellow
genealogy bloggers will lend their eyes to what has been found so far and
possibly help solve the mystery.

The story of William H. Jollett is the stuff of crime
fiction: a Civil War veteran turned horse thief turned fugitive for some other unknown
crime, a man who disappeared in 1876 only to emerge with a new name and a new
past, a man who shared his terrible secret with only a few who managed to take
the truth to the grave.

Descendants have scoured county records and newspapers
throughout Virginia to uncover the story of their great-grandfather known to
them as William Preston Boyd. Through the
miracle of the Internet, Boyd researchers and Jollett researchers have come
together with two halves of a story that might come close to providing answers to
their questions about this man of mystery.

Let’s start with a little background. On paper, William’s early life was nothing
out of the ordinary.

1850 Page County, Virginia

William Henry Jollett (1847 – Jun 1924) was the fourth of
eight children born to Emanuel and Anna/Ann Elizabeth Breeden/Breeding Jollett.The family lived among generations of
Jolletts and Breedens along Naked Creek in Page County, Virginia, where Emanuel
worked as a carpenter.In the 1850 Page
County census, Ann is listed as being seven years older than her husband.Five children are listed:Jonathan Breeden (age 11 – born before
Emanuel and Ann married), Susannah (6), Margaret (5), William (3), and Nancy (4
months).

1860 Page County, Virginia

By the 1860 census, several major events had occurred. First of all, two more children had come
along, Sarah and Andrew. William’s father
Emanuel died of typhoid fever in October 1859 just a couple months after an
unnamed baby was born and died. Suddenly
at age 13, William was the man of the house, and we are left to wonder how this
family managed.

Perhaps fortunately for the Jolletts, William’s age kept
him home while others joined the effort to defend the Confederacy. But in 1864, a 17-year old William signed on
with the 9th Regiment of the Virginia Infantry. He is on the roster for both November and
December. Then in April 1865 he is
listed as a Prisoner of War at the surrender in Appomattox. Now whether he was REALLY there or whether
all Virginia soldiers were considered prisoners of war is not clear.

Regardless, the war is over and happy days are here
again. In November of 1865 William
married Mary Elizabeth Martin, daughter of Absalom and Ceatta Martin of Warren
County, Virginia.

So how did William’s life go so wrong in 1870 that he ended
up stealing a horse and being sentenced to five years in a Richmond prison? Attempts to locate newspapers and court
records that might explain what led him to commit such an act have produced no
answers.

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About Me

My name is Wendy. About twenty years ago, I helped my mother research the Jolletts. Since retiring from teaching, I have expanded my research which I share here. When I’m not looking for my own family, I index for FamilySearch and the Greene County Historical Society.
Welcome to Jollett Etc. Please leave a comment to let me know you were here. If you have more information or believe we are related, EMAIL ME at wendymath at cox dot net